Fashioning fun with whimsical wearable art
From shawls made from peacock feathers to skirts fashioned from wicker baskets festooned with flowers, Elkridge artist Sherry Kirn is garnering increasing notoriety through her wearable art.
This art form, known as ManneqArt, includes clothing designs (along with elaborate hair and makeup), often staged initially on a mannequin. Through the intricacy and whimsy of their design, they are considered works of art.
The focal point for the movement in the United States is an unassuming warehouse simply called ManneqArt in on Route 1 in Laurel that stages competitions in the genre that draw entrants from all over the country.
ManneqArt’s founder Lee Andersen calls the work “sculpture on the human form.” The clothing designer discovered it in her native New Zealand, and when she found no similar competitions in the United States, decided to start them here herself.
Creating a new career
Kirn discovered ManneqArt circuitously.
Growing up in Essex in Baltimore County, Kirn, now 67, attended Kenwood High school, graduating in 1965. She’d always been interested in art, but hers is not a typical arts background: She worked for 38 years in the field of waste water facilities as a lab technician before retiring five years ago.
“A great career,” she said. But Kirn had other aspirations for retirement.
She began pursuing a career closer to her diverse interests in the arts. For over 40 years while working, she’s been taking a host of art classes that express a wide range of interest and talents.
“I tried everything. I started out doing pressed flower pictures. I would start out in the garden — getting flowers, little pansies and anything that would press — and framing them behind glass. Then I moved onto goose eggery, [the art of painting and decorating eggs] and loved doing that,” Kirn said.
“Then I found the Queen’s Ink at Savage Mill.” Equal parts art supply store and studio, Kirn has taken full advantage of Queen’s Ink’s classes in honing her artistic skills.
“I showed up at the Savage Mill store about maybe 10 or 11 years ago…I’m always down there taking a class,” said Kirn. Describing the studio in back of the store, she added, “It’s just a wonderful haven.”
Styling a winner
Ultimately, when she drifted into the ManneqArt studio one day, Kirn chose ManneqArt as her specialty.
Kirn was off to an auspicious start when she won her very first competition in the form — with the help of an enthusiastic young charge whom she was babysitting. She was tasked with creating artwork on one of 20 mannequins set up that night for the event. And she has not let up since.
The yearly competitions are themed. On the docket for 2015 are such wide-ranging subjects as nature, literature, art and architecture.
A recent effort by Kirn was dubbed “Peacock Flight,” and it’s evident in its sprawling, colorful design how the name was derived.
“I was inspired by the beauty of the peacock feathers, and the creation came to me as I worked on it. I had an idea, and it just flowed. It was so much fun to create,” she said.
A first-place winning design, which Kirn calls “Alice in Wonderbra,” decorates a bra with lavender fabric wings, three-dimensional fabric teacups, a purple feather boa and more.
The Mall at Columbia recently displayed some ManneqArt, and Kirn’s own efforts were on display at the Garden Center in Clarksville.
As to the appeal of this particular art form to someone with such a broad realm of interests, Kirn said, “ManneqArt is truly my passion. I’ve met so many people; it’s just been tremendous. When I retired, I said I’m going to play with art, and I really am.”
“Peacock Flight” is now on display at the spa Medical Skin Therapeutics, 4801 Dorsey Hall Dr. # 110, in Ellicott City. For more about ManneqArt, see http://manneqart.org.